Buyers, Country Club Back Off Deal

Town Council Had Considered Spending $2.5 Million On Development Rights If Purchase Had Gone Through

April 22, 2003|By MARK PUKALO; Courant Staff Writer

SOUTHINGTON — A multi-million dollar deal that would have given the town the development rights to a local golf club appears dead.

The town council Monday canceled a public hearing scheduled for next Monday on an ordinance that would have appropriated $2.5 million for the acquisition of Southington Country Club development rights, because the sale of the golf course has fallen apart.

Developer Ray Kastner and his cousins, Christopher and Joseph Calvanese, owners of the Aqua Turf, appeared set to buy the 102-acre property for $6.2 million to $6.5 million and agreed to keep it as a golf course, selling the development rights to the town.

The D'Angelo Family, which owns the golf course, Kastner and the Calvanese cousins could not be reached for comment Monday.

In closed-door talks in January, the town council discussed paying $2.5 million for the development rights for the property, which is zoned for half-acre residential development.

``We were under the impression that the sale was going to go through,'' Town Manager John Weichsel said Monday. ``But these are big-money items and everything must be exactly in order. These things happen.''

Weichsel said he, along with every council member, supported the deal. The town's plan was to preserve the property as open space, preserve it as a golf course and prevent development of as many as 125 single-family homes.

The deal also would have been a profitable investment down the road to sell to a developer, when there was more space in Southington schools to support more new housing.

``It was constructive for us,'' town council Chairman Ed Malczyk said. ``I still think that purchasing development rights is a way of preserving open spaces and we did have a lot of support from the public. It's unfortunate it didn't work out.''